In 2024, the automotive industry in Qingdao experienced growth, with large-scale enterprises contributing 7.66 percent of the city's industrial value added, generating an operating income of 120 billion yuan ($16.58 billion), a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year.

The production of new energy vehicles surged, with 123,200 vehicles manufactured—a 134 percent rise year-on-year, resulting in a production value of 16.332 billion yuan, a substantial 268 percent increase.

According to official data, Chery's Qingdao base played a significant role in this growth, doubling the city's new energy vehicle production in 2024. As one of the most important incremental projects in Qingdao's automotive industry in recent years, Chery's Qingdao base operated at full capacity in 2024—production and production value in the first half of the year were nearly three times that of the same period in 2023.

Throughout 2024, Chery's Qingdao base produced 165,000 complete vehicles, exceeding 18 billion yuan in production value. The expansion also led to the introduction of new high-end vehicle models.

In response to the industry's shift towards electrification and smart technologies, Qingdao's complete vehicle enterprises increased their efforts to upgrade and transform production capacity in 2024, helping to improve the quality and efficiency of the city's automotive sector.

Qingdao will make every effort to create a highland for the innovation and promotion of intelligent connected new energy vehicles in northern China. By 2027, the city aims to produce over 1.3 million complete vehicles annually, with new energy vehicles accounting for more than 40 percent of the total output. The industrial chain scale is projected to reach 300 billion yuan, positioning Qingdao as a leader in automotive connectivity, intelligence, and electrification.

Qingdao's new energy vehicles show impressive performance, with a total production of 123,200 vehicles for 2024. [Photo by Zhang Jingang/for chinadaily.com.cn]